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Abstract
From folk tales to movies, stories possess features which naturally suit them to contribute to the growth of virtue. In this article I show that the fictional exemplars help the learner to grasp the moral importance of internal states and resolves a tension between existing kinds of exemplars discussed by virtue ethicists. Stories also increase the information conveyed by virtue terms and aid the growth of prudence. Stories can provide virtuous exemplars, inform learners as to the nature of the virtues and offer practice in developing situational judgement. As such they are a significant resource for virtue ethics and moral education.
Acknowledgements
This project/publication was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation grant number 57496.
Notes
1. The virtue ethicist also faces the wider challenge of demonstrating that experience is formative of character and that character has a significant influence on action – a subject extensively discussed in the existing literature. Examples include Alfano (Citation2013) and Sabini and Silver (Citation2005).